Review: Under A Witch Moon by Maria E. Schneider

The Particulars: Urban Fantasy, Bear Mountain Books, available in print and as e-book

The Source: Smashwords

The Grade: B+

The Blurb:

Adriel should have known that with a werewolf, it never stopped with just one body. She would have gone to the police after witnessing Dolores’ death, but she wasn’t certain the killer she saw was responsible for the other murders. Besides, the police didn’t believe in werewolves, and they weren’t going to believe she was a witch either so what could she tell them?

She kept her eyes and ears open while she tried to help her latest client escape the clutches of a voodoo witch, but things went from bad to worse when more bodies turned up. She was greatly relieved when she met White Feather, an undercover cop. Unfortunately, he wasn’t convinced she was innocent of all wrong-doing. It was going to take every spell she knew and a few she hadn’t tried to solve the murders and stay alive.

The Review:

This book have been on my wishlist for a long time. And after finally buying, I kicking myself for waiting so long. But the upside is that book 3 is out soon.

The version of Santa Fe that the author created felt believable to me. The supernatural elements felt seamlessly integrated into the non magic society. I liked how Adriel’s magic worked, and how she created potions that might or might not work like she thought they would.

I also liked how the other supernatural elements was explained, and how not everyones magic worked exactly the same way, but it depended on what gift you had.

I liked Adriel. She was down to earth, and happy laying low, not attracting attention to herself. I felt for her when her life suddenly turned upside down. I also liked the other characters we met, from the streetwise Lynx to the vivacious Matilda. And Whitefeather. dreamy sigh

The plot was fast paced, and I enjoyed following Adriel as she struggled to defeat the villain, and save her client. I loved how the stakes slowly rose through the plot, as Adriel and her friends gradually discovered who was behind it. One aspect that I especially liked was how several separate plot threads turned out to be connected in the end. Which lead to some unexpected plot twists.

The biggest problem I had with this book, was that one tiny detail in the beginning of the book pissed off the biologist in me, and it took awhile for me to calm down, and appreciate the story. But otherwise, it was a well written Urban Fantasy.